Not Snowboarding Podcast Ep. 38 | Joe Suta & Steven Kimura

This episode was unique in that, for the first time, we had four people on – all in different locations (with almost no issues from Skype). Nate and AJ talked with Joe Suta (Nightmare Snowboards) and Steven Kimura (Owner Operator and United Shapes) about the brand new, snowboarding only trade show that they are launching in January:Parts & Labor

Awesome, dudes that can’t figure out how to sell the 200 snowboards they make a year in existing shops are now going to figure out how the industry is supposed to be run and put on their own trade show? Sounds like a great plan.

This is exactly what will save snowboarding. Brands coming together as a collective, each that have less than half a percent market share, joining forces for the good of snowboarding and core shops to help them fill the 5% gap in sales left by Burton and Mervin.

If Raul, Steve, Benny, Cal, Bill and Dennis didn’t know who to buy from to fill that gap they sure as hell do now.

Having Trent give his backing really seals the deal, everything that guy has ever touched is killing it in the market today.

Once the Angry Snowboarder, Flow and Ruroc sign on SIA better start counting their days.

There it is! you got one thing right, the dudes are not veterans of the industry, they are just sick of people like you being in it…There is an incredible venue booked, they just have not announced anything to maintain madness to the mystery. SIA is scrambling since Parts & Labor could not come to a monetary working agreement with their ski/fur/craft coffee/sled/recycled mittens show… the efforts toward this show are exciting, glad you will not be there to support something you clearly know nothing about.

Damn you must be old as dirt. Sanford & Sons ended in 1977! Industries change, why hate on others that are trying their best to build brands they’ve created? I’m sure the brands you represent had humble beginnings!

“We are developing a poaching policy, but how can we use industry peer pressure to show the poachers how disrespectful, maddening, cheap and unproductive it is to Show outside of the Snow Show at the same time”

In the beginning everything is hard, change is hard and i dont ski so Ill be so glad to be at a show for us and by us. Snowboarding makes up a small part of the industry. Itll feel great to know your neighbor.

If Joe from Nightmare and Steven from United Shapes are considered industry vets I might as well consider myself Shaun White or Terje. I’ve never even seen either of these brand snowboards in a shop. I see this show turning out to be a “Nightmare”

Neither Joe or Steven consider themselves industry “vets” or relevant in this over saturated industry. – That is why this parts and labor show will work…while your pun is clever with the word “nightmare”, it seems that you lack knowledge regarding how much effort is going into this event and how it will change the course of the industry, the current snow show certainly does not cover the same ground parts and labor does… Continue to root for this new event to fail – you only further guarantee to be left behind.

Hey save a penny…. NPOs make money, some of them a lot of money. The snowboard side of the trade show is worth close to $100,000. And that’s just in booth fees and dues. SIA is very freaked out and have tried every option available to keep this under their wing, even offering to buy the whole show outright. A lot of brands can’t really afford to show up to the Snow Show, but end up blowing half their yearly budget so they can dick wag in between a guy selling boogie boards for snow and the brand that makes those stupid Velcro beard masks. Most of the brands involved in P&L only have a presence in core shops, so not being at SIA isn’t going to hurt them at all. If anything, it’ll give them more money to put back into their brand. And with bigger brands like Vans and the whole NDK umbrella involved, it lends some legitimacy to attract the bigger buyers to check it out.